Another before and after

As of  this past Friday, I'm finished with semester one of five to get my master's degree in teaching and learning!  It's exciting...but it's a lot!  I haven't been in school since 2002, so there was a bit of a learning curve in getting back to it.  I'm supremely thankful that this program started in the summer so that I could kind of get acclimated to (or not have a nervous breakdown about) doing school work again.  
Anyway, now that I'm not up to my eyeballs in school work I thought I'd give you a little peek into our house.  

From the day we bought this house, people on our street and throughout our community have showered us with kind words about all we've done to improve it.  That is after they told us how many people looked at it and thought it was just too much to take on!  
We love it- work and all!  The downtown area and the house really work well for us.  

Our dining room is such a great space!  The bay window and the builtins are just two of the highlights that make it what it is.  

When we first moved here, this is what it looked like:

The whole room was so dark and felt really closed in.  We knew we wanted to start here pretty quickly since we'd be spending a lot of time in this room and this would be an easy fix in comparison to some of the other work that had to be done.  

Here's what it looks like now:

The panoramic view gives you a better idea of what the room actually looks like.  I absolutely love how much lighter and brighter it is!  There's a great deal more to be done inside and outside the house, but I thought I'd give you a idea of how we're sprucing things up.  We're getting there!